♣ Q972♣
-(b) suppose you bid 3♠ and partner raises to
4♠, what do you bid now?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

E1♠pass1NTpass Is 3♥ forcing?

3♥

F1♦3♣3♠Is
3♠ forcing?

G1♦4♣4NTWhat is
4NT?

.

The non-automatic re-opening double?Board 4 from Wednesday
6th

Dealer:♠ -WestNorth(B)EastSouth(C)

West♥
AQJ8742pass1♥1♠pass(1)

Both vul♦ K632pass2♥(2)3♣dbl

♣
J53♠passpassdbl

all pass

♠ 875N♠ AQ632

♥ 9653WE♥ K(1)What did you bid with
this South hand C in this

♦ A875S♦109week’s quiz? Playing negative doubles you

♣
106♣ AK843should pass and pass partner’s subsequent double.

♠
KJ1094(2)What did you bid with this North hand B in this

♥ 10week’s quiz? Playing negative doubles you

♦ QJ4would
normally double automatically. But

♣ Q972this
really is one of the very few exceptions.

Even though you know
that partner has a ♠ stack,

2♥ must be right.

And what happened?

-3♠ was doubled at two
tables and went -1 (200) and -3 (800). At other tables there were the usual
spurious results including 4♥-1, 4♠*-3 and 4♣-4(undoubled!).

Bridge CryptogramEach letter denotes a
specific letter in the alphabet.

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The long pause…Board
29 from Wednesday 6th

This deal caused a director call and some controversy on Wednesday.
My position (and the internationally accepted rules) are
very clear. So here we go again - a long pause and pass followed by partner
making a very dubious bid. Now I am not that impressed with any of the bidding
at this table, but one thing is carved in stone – if your partner makes a long
pause and passes then you have to have a very clear bid in order to bid
anything other than pass. Hesitation followed by a pass, and partner then
dubiously bidding, is the main cause of controversy and director calls
worldwide.

Dealer:♠ Q754WestNorthEastSouth

North♥
AJ-passpass1♦

Both vul♦ 98743♣(1)3♦(2)4♣(3)pass(4)

♣
1085passdbl(5)all pass

♠ J8N♠ A1093

♥ KQ73WE♥ 9642(1)A bit too ragged a suit for me when vulnerable.

♦ 5S♦KJ2(2)But West’s bid has made it awkward for North.

♣
K97632♣ QJ(3)I would pass, presumably East thought that
West

♠
K62was a bit stronger? I would need 3 ♣’s to raise.

♥ 1085(4)After a long pause. I
would pass pretty much

♦ AQ1063in tempo with this hand, but
if I had paused

♣ A4then
I would bid 4♦ - pausing and passing causes

more friction, arguments
and director calls than

any other aspect of
bridge.

(5)After partner’s
pause, this is simply not cricket.

North has nothing
more than already shown.

And what happened? 4♣ doubled went -2 for a near top to N-S. The
director was called and I ruled that North should not double and the result was
changed to 4♣-2 undoubled.

The bottom lines: -

-Try not to think for a long time and then pass - it
only causes problems for partner (or me if partner decides to bid and I am
subsequently called over by the opponents).

-If you do think for a long time, then bid rather than
passing (this means there is never a problem).

-If partner does make a long pause and the pass, then
you are banned from the auction unless you have a very clear bid. It is
quite possible that North intended to double without partner’s hesitation, but
that is not the point. It does not matter if that is the bid that you
would have made, what matters is that the bid must be very clear after partner’s
hesitation/pass and in my opinion double at (5) is not at all obvious.

Pass a forcing bid?Board 8 from Friday 8th

One should ‘never’ pass a forcing bid of course, but there are
always exceptions… ?

Dealer:♠ A9852Table A

West♥
KQJ7WestNorthEastSouth(A)

Love all♦ AQ3pass1♠passpass(1)

♣
Kpass

♠ A1063N♠ QJ4Table B

♥ A96WE♥ 83WestNorthEastSouth(A)

♦ 875S♦KJ10pass1♠pass1NT(1)

♣
QJ6♣ 109875pass3♥(2)passpass(3)

♠
7pass

♥ 10542

♦ 9642

♣ A432

Table A:(1)What
did you bid with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? Since virtually every
North ended up as declarer in 1♠ it appears that
pass was the overwhelming favourite.

Table B:(1)This South could not stomach the thought of
partner playing in 1♠, and so bid in the hope of finding a better
spot.

(2)A 2ndsuit, and absolutely forcing…

(3)… but
there are always exceptions. South was happy to have found a better spot.

And what happened? 7
North’s played in 1♠, making 7 or 8 tricks. 3♥ made 11 tricks for a complete top
to N-S.

The
bottom lines: -

-Whether you should ‘bend
the rules’ with this type of South hand is up to you. It may go horribly wrong
(partner bidding 3♠ or 4♠) but that is less likely if you play Benjamin twos. If you do
choose to bid 1NT then you can pass any rebid and most will leave you in a
better spot.

Dave’s ColumnHere is this week’s Dave
input involving the best play for the contract.

NorthSouthEast
leads the ♥5 against your contract of 5♣. West wins with the

♠92♠ AJ10♥A and returns the ♥7

♥9♥
103(a) How are the ♥
honours placed?

♦ A86♦ K742(b)
What is your game plan?

♣ AKQJ532♣
10876

Dave’s Column
answerBoard
1 from Wednesday 6th

Dealer:♠92WestNorthEastSouth

North♥9-1♣pass1NT

Love all♦ A862♥3♥(1)4♥pass

♣ AKQJ532pass5♣all pass

♠K753N♠ Q864(1)Asking for a ♥ stop.

♥ AQ8742WE♥ KJ65

♦J3S♦Q1095East leads the ♥5 which West wins with the ♥A.

♣
4♣ 9West returns the ♥7
which you ruff.

♠ AJ10

♥ 103(a) How
are the ♥ honours placed?

♦ K742(b) What is your game plan?

♣
10876

(a)Regarding the two
missing ♥ honours, East must have the ♥K (West won with the
♥A). East has the ♥J as with ♥AQJ West would
return the ♥Q (or ♥J).

(b)Onto the game plan.
You have lost a ♥ and have a ♠ as well as a ♦ loser. Counting tricks you have 7 ♣’s, 2 ♦’s and a ♠; a total of 10. You
must find an extra trick and you have two
possible plays: -

(1)Take two ♠ finesses and try to
rid yourself of the ♦ loser.

(2)Play on ♦’s, hoping for a 3-3
break.

As for percentages,
one of the two finesses working is about 75%, while a 3-3 break is 36%. So take
two ♠ finesses.

And what happened at
the Pattaya bridge Club? Just two pairs played in 5♣ and both made it. The player who overbid to 6♣ went one down. But
at the other three tables E-W competed to 5♥ and all went just
two down (only one was doubled). 5♥ doubled should go 3
down for a poor score, but N-S have to defend accurately (North needs to
lead ♠’s twice) to get their 5 tricks before the ♦’s get set up for
declarer.

The bottom lines: -

-One of two finesses is about 75%

-A suit splitting 3-3 is 36%

-Play with the odds.

Dave’s 2nd
ColumnHere
is Dave’s 2nd input involving the best play for the contract.

WestEastYou are East and open 1♦, South overcalls 4♥ and partner bids 5♦.

♠AJ10♠ K874South leads two top ♥’s and North shows an even number.

♥ 73♥ 52At trick three South shifts
to a trump and you play a 2nd trump

♦A10965♦KQJ87upon which North discards a ♠.

♣
K43♣ A2Now you play two top
♣’s and ruff a ♣, all following. How do you now play the ♠’s?

Dave’s
2nd Column answerBoard 2 from Wednesday 6th

Dealer:♠Q9432WestNorthEastSouth

North♥ 109--1♦4♥

Love all♦ 45♦all pass

♣ J8765

♠AJ10N♠ K874

♥ 73WE♥ 52

♦A10965S♦KQJ87

♣
K43♣ A2

♠ 5

♥
AKQJ864

♦ 32

♣
Q109

South leads the ♥K followed by the ♥A, North playing the ♥10 and ♥9 – thus showing an
even number playing ‘ace for attitude, king for count’. At trick three South shifts
to a trump and you play a 2nd trump upon which North discards a ♠.

Now you play the two
top ♣’s and ruff a ♣, all following. How
do you play the ♠’s?

Have you been
counting? Whenever you come across a hand that depends upon a
2-way finesse for a queen it will probably be a counting hand.

If you can, you
should delay the play of the key two way ♠ suit until you have
more information about the other suits.

Here the bidding and
play indicate that South started with seven ♥’s. South followed
to two rounds of ♦’s and three rounds of ♣’s so can have no
room for more than one ♠. Cash the ♠A and run the ♠J through North – he
must have the ♠Q.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge Club? Just two pairs bid to 5♦ and both made it, at one table South switched to the singleton ♠ at trick three to give declarer no problem.

The bottom lines: -

-Use the opponent’s bidding and signaling to help you
to count the hand.

-Hands where one opponent has made a pre-emptive bid
are easier to count. Once you know that an opponent has a long suit, count that
hand – you do not need to count both hands.

Missing just the AK of trumpsBoard 25 from
Wednesday 5th

Dealer:♠ -Table
A

West♥
1097WestNorthEast(D)South

Love all♦ 9751♦3♣5♠(1)pass

♣
AQJ109766♠(2)all
pass

♠ AK43N♠ QJ10862‘Expert Table’

♥ Q4WE♥ AKJWestNorthEast(D)South

♦ A832S♦KQ1041♦3♣3♠(1)pass

♣
852♣ -4♠pass5♣(3)pass

♠
9755♦(4)pass5NTpass

♥ 865327♠all
pass

♦ J6

♣ K43

Table A:(1)What
did you bid with this East hand D(a) in this week’s
quiz? On the face of it this jump to 5♠ seems very strange;
but actually, lacking more refined methods, I think it’s quite reasonable. I play
the bid just the same as an opening 5♥/♠ bid - asking partner to
bid six with one top honour and seven with two. On the
bidding it’s fairly likely that partner has the ♦A.

(2)As indicated above, I would bid 7♠ here.

‘Expert’(1)Assuming
that you do not play negative free bids then 3♠ is forcing here and
is

Table:the
bid I would choose and is the answer to question D(a).

(3)What did you bid with this East hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? You need to find out if partner
has the ♦A and also what he has in the way of top ♠ honours. Blackwood
is a poor choice with a void because if partner responds two or three keycards
you have no idea if he has the useless ♦A or not. The best
bid is 5♣, a cue bid, showing 1st round control of ♣’s
and inviting partner to cue bid
.

(4)A cue bid, showing 1st round
control of ♦’s, so obviously the ♦A.

(5)The Josaphine Grand slam force, asking partner
to bid a grand slam with two of the top three ♠ honours.

And what happened? 5
out of 7 bid 6♠ making +1 with the other in a poor 4NT. I guess that
North overcalled 4♣ and West passed the 4NT bid of East. Nobody
found 7♠.

The
bottom lines: -

-Pre-empt
to the limit. At non-vul a 4♣ bid by North can
(did) cause havoc.

-5NT, when
a suit has been agreed and Blackwood not invoked, is the GSF.

Negative Free Bids (NFB)

Negative free bids are a variation on Negative Doubles that I do not
recommend. Playing Negative Free Bids the 3♠ bid at (1) would not
be forcing. With this strong hand East would have to double and hope to be able
to show his ♠’s next go. The problem is that a ♣ raise by
South could well cause problems as you loose a level or two of bidding and
finding the grand would be almost impossible.

The
bottom lines: -

-Do
not play Negative Free Bids. Expert opinion of NFBs
is divided and it is well known that a raise by overcaller’s
partner can cause havoc.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A:1NT. At least, that’s what I
bid. If you pass (as just about everybody in the club did) then LHO will
doubtless pass again and 1♠ will probably be a
poor contract.

So try 1NT and pass partner’s rebid, praying
that partner does not leap too high in ♠’s
or NoTrumps.

Hand B:2♥. This is a rare exception of a case where your
hand is unsuitable for a re-opening double. Partner clearly has a ♠ stack but your hand is not suitable for
defending 1♠ doubled.

Hand C:Pass, and pass partner’s
expected double.

Hand D:(a)3♠. This is forcing. An interesting option that
an opponent tried at my table is 5♠
which (in my opinion) asks partner to bid 6♠ with a top ♠honour
and 7♠ with both the ♠A and ♠K. This assumes that opener has the ♦A.

(b)5♣, a cue bid showing 1st round
control of ♣’s and inviting partner to cue bid. 4NT (RKCB)
is a poor bid with a void as you will generally not know if the response
includes the useless ♣A or not. So cue bid
5♣ and if partner bids 5♦ (showing the ♦A) then bid 5NT – the Josaphine GSF, asking partner to bid the grand
with two of the top three ♠ honours.

Bidding Sequence Answers

E1♠pass1NTpass 3♥ is game forcing.

3♥

F1♦3♣3♠3♠ is forcing unless
you play negative free bids, which I do not (unless partnering somebody who
does – Bengt or Sean for example).

G1♦4♣4NTI guess this is Blackwood or RKCB. You cannot have everything and if you want to play in 4NT then
tough, the 4♣ bid has fixed you.